KILLEEN, Texas – Experience reigned supreme over potential for one night, and Cody McKenzie’s streak of 10 consecutive guillotine-choke victories came to an end with a hard-fought submission loss to veteran Yves Edwards.

The lightweight fight was the featured preliminary-card attraction at Saturday’s “UFC Fight Night 23: UFC Fight for the Troops 2″ event, which took place at Fort Hood in Killeen, Texas, as a fundraiser for the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund.

The fight also concluded a four-fight broadcast that marked the UFC’s streaming debut on Facebook.

Edwards took control in the first round with crisper striking and a solid sprawl. But though he initially appeared to tire by the round’s end, McKenzie came out strong in the second and continually dragged his opponent to the mat. Once there, he took his back, methodically improved his position, and then rained down heavy punches and an array of rear-naked-choke attempts.

McKenzie never cinched the submission, but Edwards soon did.

After breaking free of McKenzie’s body lock and eventually securing the same hold, Edwards quickly locked in a rear-naked choke of his own. McKenzie fought it off and desperately tried to break free. But after McKenzie refused to tap, the referee halted the bout at the 4:33 mark once he realized “The Ultimate Fighter 12″ fan favorite lost consciousness.

“I didn’t want to let the position go,” said Edwards, a 14-year veteran. “He was strong when he had my back, so I had to be strong when I had his back.”

Competing in his adopted home state, the Bahamian fighter said the victory was one of his most meaningful.

‘I’m happy to be back in the UFC,” Edwards said. “I’m even happier to fight for the troops.”

Edwards (40-16-1 MMA, 8-4 UFC), who once considered retirement after a rough stretch from 2005 to 2008, has rebounded with six wins in his past seven fights. McKenzie (12-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC), meanwhile, tastes defeat for the first time.

Injured Guymon taps to Johnson

It wasn’t the way he wanted it, but DaMarques Johnson picked up a submission victory over fellow welterweight Mike Guymon in the night’s other preliminary-card feature.

After an early takedown in the first round and slick ground work, Johnson took his opponent’s back and squeezed with an especially crushing body triangle. Before Johnson could even throw a punch from the dominant back mount, Guymon was forced to submit verbally from an apparent back injury at the 3:22 mark.

Johnson admittedly felt a bit unsatisfied after the fight, which left Guymon in clear pain.

“Who likes foreplay with no orgasm?” said the former Army and Coast Guard serviceman, who earned a thunderous roar of applause. “I didn’t get to finish.”

Johnson (12-8 MMA, 3-2 UFC), “The Ultimate Fighter 9″ runner-up, now has won three of his past four fights, all of which came in the UFC. Meanwhile, with his third loss in four UFC fights, Guymon (12-5-1 MMA, 1-3 UFC) likely entered the octagon for the final time.

Yahya too much for short-notice Brown

After a stinging defeat to Diego Nunes just three weeks ago at UFC 125, former WEC featherweight champ Mike Brown didn’t hesitate to replace injured Chan Sung Jung for a shot at redemption. Unfortunately, the decision only compounded the problem.

By closing the distance, continually working for submissions, negating his opponent’s sharp striking, and unloading a vicious third-round beating, Rani Yahya frustrated and largely shut down Brown en route to a unanimous-decision victory.

Aided by what may have been a second-round injury that slowed Brown, Yahya worked with increasing confidence throughout the fight. By the third round, he scored takedowns with ease and unloaded a steady stream of ground and pound and rear-naked-choke attempts that were halted only when he was warned about punches to the back of the head, which resulted in a stand-up.

In the end, the judges awarded the ever-busy Yahya the decision via scores of 30-27, 29-28 and 29-28.

“It was a very tough fight,” Yahya said. “Mike is a winner; he’s a warrior. He’s a 35-year-old warrior that took a fight on two-weeks’ notice and fought at the [most recent] UFC, so he should get credit for that.”

With the win, Yahya (16-6 MMA, 1-0 UFC) successfully rebounds from the back-to-back losses that closed out his WEC career. Prior to the setbacks, he went 3-0 in his first three WEC fights and picked up a trio of “Submission of the Night” bonuses.

Brown (24-8 MMA, 0-3 UFC), once the world’s top 145-pound fighter, now has lost four of his past six fights and faces an uncertain future with the UFC.

Lowe overpowers Freire in decision win

In the night’s first Facebook fight, former NCAA Division II national wrestling champion Waylon Lowe put his ground skills to good use – though his striking and quickness proved just as effective in a unanimous-decision win over fellow lightweight Willamy “Chiquerim” Freire.

Lowe set the tone early with overpowering takedowns that the UFC newcomer simply couldn’t stop. Lowe remained active from the top, and Alves’ only early offense came in the first round with a kimura attempt that was halted by an inexplicable stand-up by referee Dan Miragliotta.

Not until the third round did Freire finally stuff Lowe’s takedowns. After one, Lowe remained on his knees, seemingly daring his opponent to close the distance. He did and overpowered Lowe to take the mount position, where he rained down his best strikes of the fight. But Lowe got back to his feet, scored another takedown, and though clearly tired, closed out the round with solid top control while defending against additional kimura attempts.

Thanks to his early lead, Lowe earned the unanimous-decision victory via 29-28 scores on all three judges’ cards.

Lowe (10-3 MMA, 2-1 UFC), an American Top Team fighter, is 8-1 over his past nine fights, and the lone defeat came to Melvin Guillard in his promotional debut at UFC 114. Freire (17-4 MMA, 0-1 UFC), a former Shooto champ, snaps an 11-fight win streak.

“Real American” Brenneman tops Alves

With the heavy backing of the night’s soldiers, “The Spaniard” Charlie Brenneman used a wrestling-heavy gameplan to control and easily defeat Brazilian welterweight Amilcar Alves via unanimous decision.

Brenneman was the clear favorite thanks to his walkout, which was set to the popular Hulk Hogan “Real American” theme song. The adoration never leveled off as the former Lock Haven University wrestler scored frequent takedowns and slams, dominated with his top game, and largely negated all of Alves’ weapons. His efforts never seemed to slow.

In the end, all three judges scored the fight 30-27 for Brenneman.

“I had chills walking out there,” he said. “As soon as I heard those troops, how could you not fight your ass off?”

Brenneman (13-2 MMA, 2-1 UFC) now has won seven of his past eight fights, which included a UFC-debut win over Jason High in 2010. Alves (11-3 MMA, 0-2 UFC), meanwhile, likely faces a release following back-to-back losses to Brenneman and Mike Pierce.

Cariaso edges Campuzano in opener

Texas native Will Campuzano clearly won the second round, and fellow ex-WEC bantamweight Chris Cariaso earned the third. It all came down to the pivotal first round, which all three judges awarded to Cariaso, who earned the close unanimous-decision victory.

The night’s opener initially proved a slow affair that took place solely standing. But by moving forward and pressing the action, Cariaso got the judges’ nod (29-28 on all cards) over Campuzano, who appeared to counter strike through most of the fight.

Cariaso (11-2 MMA, 1-0 UFC) now has won four of his past five fights with the lone trip-up coming via submission to Renan Barao at WEC 53. The Californian now has posted wins with the UFC, WEC, Strikeforce and EliteXC.

“I got a bit more comfortable in the third round,” he said. “I was able to pull out the win. I’m happy with my performance, and I’m looking to improve on that.”

Campuzano (8-4 MMA, 0-2 UFC), meanwhile, faces a likely release following his third consecutive defeat under the Zuffa banner.

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